As many of you know, Windows 8 virtual desktops are supported (in technical preview) in the current release of VDI-in-a-Box (VIAB) 5.2 with the following limitation: RDP Connections Only. This has been available since day one of Microsoft’s Windows 8 release. About a week ago (on May 10th), Citrix made available a public tech preview for VIAB Project Curacao (Read more here), which adds full HDX/ICA support for Windows 8 virtual desktops along with several other key enhancements. In the following blog post, I will share my experiences building a stand-alone Hyper-V Server 2012 host with local storage and a VIAB grid using Project Curacao. Many of these processes are identical for VIAB 5.2, so if you’re interested in building a POC environment using the currently released version (5.2) you can follow most of these steps as well!

While this will be review for many of you, I’m including screenshots for installing Hyper-V Server 2012 as I know from conversations that many folks have never installed Microsoft’s free hypervisor that is fully supported for VDI-in-a-Box. I’ll start by installing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 on a host with a single network adapter and local storage (remember, this is intended only for a POC). Hyper-V Server 2012 can be obtained for free by visiting Microsoft’s site: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/hyper-v-server/default.aspx

Boot to the ISO (9200.16384.WIN8_RTM.120725-1247_X64FRE_SERVERHYPERCORE_EN-US-HRM_SHV_X64FRE_EN-US_DV5.iso) and click Next:

Click Install Now:

Accept the license agreement and click Next:

Click Custom:

Select the boot partition and click Next:

Installation will take a couple minutes. Click OK to set the password:

Set the password and hit enter:

Click OK:

Type 2 and hit enter to set the computer name:

Enter the computer name:

Click Yes to restart immediately:

Upon reboot, login and type 8 and hit enter to configure the network settings:

Select the index number (#11) of the network adapter and hit enter:

Select S for static and enter the appropriate network information:

Type 2 and hit Enter to set the network DNS information:

Return to the main menu and type 1 and hit Enter to join the domain:

Enter the domain name and credentials to join the domain:

Click Yes to reboot immediately:

Once the server has rebooted, download and extract VDI-in-a-Box_Hyper-V_Curacao to the root of the C:\ drive of the Hyper-V Server. This can be done from any Windows system on the domain, since Hyper-V Server 2012 does not have an internet browser. Project Curacao can be obtained with a MyCitrix account here: http://www.citrix.com/techpreview/vdi-in-a-box

From the Hyper-V Server’s command prompt, type C:\VDI-in-a-Box_Hyper-V_Curacao\vdiManager_Hyper-V_Curacao.exe. (Tab works for auto complete if you don’t want to type out the full path). Hit return to start the installer:

Click Next:

Click Next:

Check Enable Hyper-V Remote Administration and click Install:

After a couple of minutes, click Finish to reboot immediately:

After reboot, login and the following install script will automatically kick off. Press any key:

Review the welcome screen for instructions on how to get started, or just continue following along with this blog post: